Prince Escalus, the sovereign of Verona, is a peripheral character in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. He appears in three scenes, and his main role is to be the unsuccessful arbiter of the bitter feud between the Montagues and Capulets. In other words, he takes on a position of law enforcement during a violent and chaotic time. He is first introduced in Act I, Scene 1 when he arrives in the streets to break up the fight between the two families which was sparked by the insulting gestures of the Capulet servants and soon exacerbated by the presence of Tybalt. Escalus halts the violence and admonishes the two patriarchs while warning that future outbreaks will be met by extreme punishment:
Three civil brawls bred of an airy word
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,
Have thrice disturbed the quiet of our streets
And made Verona’s ancient citizens
Cast by their grave-beseeming ornaments
To wield old partisans in hands as old,
Cankered with peace, to part your cankered hate.
If ever you disturb our streets again,
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.
The Prince appears again later in the play just after the deaths of Mercutio and Tybalt in Act III, Scene 1. Rather than follow through with his original proclamation that death would result if the peace was again broken, he is wise and judicious in simply banishing Romeo rather than putting him to death, despite the pleas of Lady Montague. Finally, after more tragedy has ensued, Prince Escalus appears in the final scene of the play lamenting his leniency and condemning Lord Montague and Lord Capulet for the deaths of their children:
Where be these enemies?—Capulet, Montague,
See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys with love,
And I, for winking at your discords too,
Have lost a brace of kinsmen. All are punished.
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